Christmas 2014

Christmas came so fast this year!  I know it always seems fast when Thanksgiving is late, but this year it really flew by.  I remember being a kid and the whole months just dragged on forever!  Sometimes I wish I could make it do that again.

We started our festivities two days before Christmas (Christmas Adam, as my kids call it) with our party/program at my parent’s house.  First we had dinner, then the kids all did their talents (Jacey and Londyn played the piano, Calvin sang Jingle Bells, and Oakley did bull-fighting with Will) and then we acted out the nativity. 

 

(Trying to convince the shepherd that the sheep isn’t scary.)

The next night was pretty much a repeat, only with the Robins family.  This year Liz put Jacey and Emma in charge of the program.  They handed out parts at Thanksgiving, coordinated costumes, and wrote the script.  They did a great job!  And with that I’m pretty sure they earned themselves a permanent job. :)

 

Oakley was so funny on Christmas eve.  She was super hyper.  Happy-hyper, which isn’t typical.  It’s like she could sense the excitement from the other kids and was absorbing it from them. 

The kids all slept in our room so they could watch a Christmas movie before bed, and Will and I slept in Jacey and Londyn’s room.  We did this last year and decided it worked out pretty well.  They were given instructions not to leave the room, so we woke up to them shouting IT’S SEVEN O’CLOCK over and over again.  Only it wasn’t – the clock in my bathroom is wrong.  Very wrong.  It wasn’t even 6:00 yet.  We made them go back to sleep.  We’re so mean!  But I think Will and I are the only ones who actually went back to sleep. 

At the top of the stairs on Christmas morning.  It is getting really hard to find matching jammies that fit from Jacey to Oakley.  This might be the last year I can find them. :(

 

We took our time playing with Santa presents and then had breakfast.  In the past we’ve gone over to Grandma’s house for breakfast, but this year they decided to make the rounds to the kids’ houses instead.  It worked out really well and made for a nice relaxing morning.

I was most excited for the kids to open their last gift – from Will and me. 

We’ve had the trip booked since September, and it was hard keeping it a secret. 

Shortly after we finished opening presents, Glen Liz and Grandma Margaret came by and we got to open presents with them.  Then we got cleaned up and headed over to my folks’ to open even more presents!  Later in the evening we went over to Glen and Liz’s house for snacks and visiting and games. I’ve got to say, I love being so close to all of our family.  I used to hear friends complain about spending their whole Christmas Day in the car, trying to see and visit everybody.  I love that we are less than a mile away from both sets of grandparents.  I love it everyday, but especially on Christmas.

I always hate to see Christmas end, but having a Disney vacation to look forward to helped a lot this year!